London, Nov 10 : A British cyclist has pedaled his way around the world on a Penny Farthing, a handmade replica of a Victorian bicycle, passing through important landmarks like India’s Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple complex and the Grand Canyon in the USA.

According to a report in the Telegraph, the cyclist in question is Joff Summerfield, who visited 23 countries in four continents after setting off from 0 degrees latitude at the Greenwich Observatory, UK, two-and-a-half years ago.

He averaged 11mph and covered up to 40 miles a day as he cycled across Europe into Turkey before riding through Australia and New Zealand.

Wellington  - New Zealand prime minister-elect John Key, the self-confessed centrist leader of a conservative party that won Saturday's general election, chose Monday to keep right-wing allies in his new government at a distance.

Key, whose National Party's 59 seats fell short of an overall majority in the 122-member Parliament, received confirmation of support from the free market ACT party, which holds five seats.

Many national and international flights were delayed due to poor visibility at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Changing wind direction and smog caused some inconvenience to passengers up to Saturday afternoon.

Director in-charge of IGI meteorological office, Dr R K Jenamani said pollution and heavy dust build up raised lower visibility problem. The situation may remain as it is for another 24 hours causing inconvenience to low flying aircraft and helicopters.

External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee said that India would resolve the Kashmir dispute through dialogue and would not accept any third party mediation. Commenting on the stance likely to be taken by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Kashmir issue and tax breaks, the minister said that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and both countries are discussing it according to the Shimla Accord and the Lahore agreement. He, however, declined to comment on the tax issues.

London, Nov 10 : Scientists have now discovered that anti-cancer drugs, earlier believed to tear down blood vessels, actually help in building stronger and more normal blood vessels.

Previously it was believed that it was possible to cease angiogenesis, a process in which tumour generates blood vessels to feed its growth, by creating drugs targeting at stopping a key vessel growth-promoting protein, called VEGF, or vascular endothelial growth factor.

But now, researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in La Jolla have found evidence that blocking VEGF may not really halt the process, but would in turn lead to the production of more blood vessels that are not only stronger, but more normal and larger also.

Washington  - A secret order since 2004 has allowed several covert raids against al-Qaeda targets by US special forces into countries including Syria and Pakistan, The New York Times reported Monday on its website.

Previous orders had authorized intelligence agencies including the CIA to act against al-Qaeda and other suspected terrorist groups since the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.